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Topic: 12.27.2132 - A New Cell (Read 5885 times)

Temmit waited for Renee and Leslie to disappear into the catacombs that would lead them back to Renee's secret chamber, Whisper's storage closet, and would eventually return Leslie safe and sound. Once the dark had swallowed his two best friends, Temmit pulled the lever that lowered the granite block from the cieling, blocking the corridor that led into Whisper's new cell.

The block ground it's way into place with an ominous finality. “I hope that Leslie will be safe from here on out.” He remarked to Smokey.

“She’s with Renee.” Smokey pointed out. “How much more safe can she be?”

“Good point.” Temmit conceded.

“Who’s going to protect you, though?”

Temmit grasped that point very quickly. He was now completely alone in Whisper’s new cell, with Damien Starke. A moment of fear and panic splashed upon his chest, but his intellect quickly reasserted itself. Damien was unconscious, and would remain so for at least the next day.

“Or so you believe. Renee is no doctor, you know.”

Damien was also well tied up.

“But which of you is really any good with a rope?”

He was blindfolded and gagged as well.

“But again…”

“SHUT UP, DAMN YOU!!!”

For a moment, there was silence in Temmit’s mind, then a small, contrite voice whispered, “It wasn’t me.” He knew that there would be no further issues.

Temmit made his way back to the room where Damien lay unconscious and immobile. To his relief the traitorous sorcerer remained as incapacitated as he had been when they tied him there.

Temmit checked the ropes, the gag (which wasn’t tight enough to suit Temmit's sense of vengeance), and the blindfold; all were satisfactorily held fast. Nevertheless, Temmit drew his sword and sat in the chair facing the sorcerer, standing vigil until that night, when Renee should return.

Temmit meditated. Smokey was mercifully quiet. He explored his own mind, and reviewed all that had happened to him that day. He was changed, he knew. His world was far expanded because of that day’s experiences, and his mind was too. By virtue of all of the mental exercise he had undertaken this day, he realized that there was so much more that his mind was capable of. As he dwelled upon his new realizations, he felt sure that the extent to which he might eventually expand his mind was truly limitless. What he was able to do was truly up to himself…he just needed to find the deeper understanding of himself that would unravel the bindings upon those powers. They were in there already; he just needed to figure out how to release them.

It was no more than half a hand, he was sure, by the time that Smokey chimed in. “So,” the gray crystal ventured. “What shall we do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we just going to sit here?”

“We’re guarding Damein.”

”He’s not going anywhere. He's out until at least tomorrow.”

“What?” Temmit knew that he shouldn’t have been surprised at that comment. “But you said earlier that we couldn’t be sure of that.”

“No I didn’t.”

Temmit had to admit that he knew from experience that this conversation would elicit a laugh from him eventually.

“Besides, who’s word are you going to take on the effectiveness of knots: Renee’s or a rock's?”

Temmit ignored the obvious concession that Smokey made by that comment. The crystal would never openly admit to owning his earlier statement.

“You know,” Temmit ventured. “We could collect arms and armor, as well as loot.”

“Gather it together in a central location.”

“Aye.” Temmit agreed. “I could also get all those bodies taken care of.”

“Down the kitchen shaft?”

“That’s my thinking. I will, of course, leave you here to keep an eye on Damein here. If he starts to come too…”

“I’ll call out.”

“Works for me.”

”Make it so, number one.”

Temmit almost inquired into that odd statement, but thought better of it. He took Smokey off from around his neck, left the crystal hanging from the back of the chair, and set to what turned out to be very grisly work.

Temmit was glad to see that the storage room was well organized. All of the crates therein were clearly marked as to their contents: rations, tools, linens, wine, and other standard sorts of supplies lined the various shelves.

After a quick review of that area, he set about collecting whatever looked like it might be of use or value from the dead thugs and thieves. Pouches, jewelry, weapons, armor, and other insundary items he collected in a corner of the storeroom. He hoped, and even thought, that Renee might just recoup her costs of buying this cell from Sephlin.

The actual removal of the bodies, however, was a far more trying ordeal for Temmit. The lean youth struggled with the large number of men and the few women who were now dead in the cell. Not all of them were slim.

They did all fit whole, however, down the kitchen shaft. Upon deposition, there was a long, relatively quiet decent, and then a faintly audible splash at the last.

Temmit grimmaced a bit when he tought that if it was a subterranean river below, it must eventually come up out of the ground, into the light of day. And then, there was the possibility that someone might stumble upon the nearly score-and-a-half cadavers, and wonder where they came from.

There was no help for it, though. He had to do what he had to do, and hope that the water below would deal with the refuse in a manner that would lead to no questions.

"So let me ask you this..." Smokey chimed in as, several hands later, Temmit washed himelf of blood for the second time that day. He waited in silence for the question that was to come. "When Renee returns, how will you know that she's out there?"

For a long while Temmit considered this problem. It naturally led him to wonder about how Whisper would populate Renee’s new cell long-term, and if they would populate it long-term. Also, he wondered whether there had been any members of Lowtown Shadow who weren't in residence when Renee and he had come calling for Leslie. Might any turn up over the next couple of days?

But to tackle the issue at hand, he delved once again deep into himself. He recollected the other side of the barricade: the poorly lit tunnel, the echo of his own and Renee's footsteps, ringing hollowly through the catacombs around them. He imagined what it might look like and sound like now, when no one violated the isolation of the tunnels. Somehow, there remained a preternatural echo of silence in that hall. Very much unlike the dwelling of Sephlin.

Temmit had to admit to himself that the opulent, decadent nature of the place where the crime lord lived was very appealing. As were his very appealing consorts. The image of Sephlin’s tent appeared in Temmit’s mind. The luxurious satin pillows and the naked, though surprisingly intelligent (and most importantly: naked) women who were there. He could recall the insightful conversations that he had overheard of them (in their nudity) while he was in their naked company.

Or perhaps he didn’t recall the conversations. The ones that presented to him as he thought on it weren’t at all the same as those of earlier. And, Temmit realized, that now, Sephlin was no longer there. Some of the women were now missing, and…

Temmit’s eyes snapped wide open as he realized what was going on: from where he was here and now, he was seeing and hearing what was currently occurring at Sephlin’s tent.

And then, Smokey was answered, while Temmit was presented with countless new questions.

Temmit concentrated upon his dormitory. He visualized his and Jacob’s beds, their foot lockers, and their desks. The scene came to him, and Jacob did too. Temmit’s roommate was sitting at his desk, as he did every night, concentrating on his homework.

Temmit watched the scene for a few moments, gaining a deeper understanding of his newfound ability. The only sounds that came to him were Jacob’s writing and mumbling. Jacob almost always mumbled to himself while he was studying.

Rather abruptly, Temmit was growing a bit tired from all of his scrying; he considered looking in on the Marks’ tavern, but withdrew into himself a bit. This exploring wasn’t really getting him any closer to the answer to Smokey’s original question: how would he know when Renee returned? Should he become aware of someone out there, at least now he had a way of knowing who it was, but what would tell him that anyone was there?

Temmit left Smokey looking over Damien and made his way back to the block that obstructed the corridor out to Lowtown. He spent a good hand or more alternately wishing for coffee and searching for any evidence of how one might communicate from one side of the block to the other.

“You keep saying that; I don’t think you know what it means. A barrier for what?”

Temmit was flagging pretty badly by this time. The day’s adrenaline had not only worn off, but had left him feeling more drained that he could remember feeling. It had been an awfully long time since he had drank any coffee or eaten anything. Or had coffee. “Well, I’d hazard a guess that they would have been thinking about a Kar’Thul invasion.” Temmit offered.

“Oh.” Smokey conceded. “That makes a lot of sense, actually.”

“It’s only a guess.” Temmit said. “But it makes sense to me too.”

“Coffee.” Smokey antagonized and Temmit could do nothing but shake his head.

“So what do we do now?” Smokey asked after a moment of cold silence. “How do we tell when Renee returns. Or if she has already?”

“Well,” Temmit responded. “I guess one of us will simply have to wait on the other side, and when she returns, that one would tell the other that she was back, and the person on the inside can open the passage.”

“Won’t work.” Smokey criticized.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not strong enough to work the lever when you tell me that she’s back.”

It was a chatty but short time later that Temmit placed Smokey tenderly outside the block and reentered the new cell, lowering the block securely once again.

“She’s back now.” Smokey said, a little nervous lilt to his voice evidencing his lie.

While Temmit considered the latter to be obvious prevarication, the former part of Smokey's report sounded genuine. Drawing upon his mental link with Smokey, Temmit was fully aware of what was happening beyond the barricade.

Much to his relief, Renee was indeed back. She was alone, and she bore a weighty sack over her shoulder. It was also obvious that Renee was atwitter with frustration, and she looked around in the corridor, and flapped her hand on her thigh every now and then.

Temmit assumed that she was enduring the same conundrum that he himself had wrestled with a few short hours ago: how was she supposed to be able to either gain entry or communicate her presence.

Casting a glance at Damien, who lay still unconscious, Temmit struggled to his feet, fighting to gain his legs. He bumped into the door frame as he staggered along towards the barricade. He gained his feet quickly enough, as he came closer to fully awake, eager to hear how Leslie's return went, and how Renee suggested that Temmit get back to his dorm before curfew. Or if that particular cart had already set off down the road.

He reached for the lever that would raise the block, and pushed hard upon it, engaging its hidden mechanism.

The lever was surprisingly easy to maneuver. Temmit watched as the stone block raised itself back into the ceiling with only a slight grating sound, the smooth square rock slid back into its place without complaint.

As it did so, he observed Renee as she ducked under the rock with sword ready, should it be Damien awaiting her and not him. Relief came to her tired eyes as he gave her a simply nod of recognition.

She waited for the entrance to quiet as she looked behind her with sword still ready. Satisfied she hadn’t been followed, she sheathed her sword and came into the cell. She carried no torch or lantern, Temmit surmised she had used magic to see on her way back.

“How did you know I was here?” she asked with a slight smile as she turned back to him.It didn’t appear that she took any time to freshen up, just change out of her armor. The smell of freshly made bread and the hint of coffee snuck out of the bag, only to be ferreted out by Temmit’s keen nose.

Temmit smiled upon seeing Renee. He had no recollection of ever having been so happy to see a person in his life. He forcibly quelled the urge to hug her. “I planted a spy.” He said as he retrieved Smokey, holding the little crystal up for her to see.

“I’m no spy.” Smokey objected. “I’m a force of the supernatural, and you shall serve me. Place me back in my place of honor.” He commanded as Temmit looped the cord around his neck.

Ignoring Smokey’s declaration of imperiousness, Temmit re-entered the Whisper Cell. “Shall we close this again?” He asked. “And do I smell coffee?”

“You most certainly do,” Renee exclaimed with a smile. She looked very pleased to see him as well, and Temmit, now very familiar with her body language, watched as she held back the same urge to hug.

Much to his stomachs chagrin, she also didn’t make a move to take the bag off her shoulder. Instead she started to walk past him as she offered, “I thought since you had missed both lunch and dinner, you would appreciate a late night snack.”

She was heading for the room Damien was detained. ‘Duty first,’ Temmit thought to himself, thinking of one of her house’s mantras.

Temmit shifted the lever once again, but waited for the stone to almost lower completely to the floor before turning to follow her. The run to catch up helped work out the stiffness in his legs.

As he came up alongside her, she answered one of his immediate worries.

“We still have almost two hands before curfew, you are safe,” she said. She then offered nothing more as they walked. Temmit sensed she was waiting to discover what subject was the most portent in his mind.

"Thank goodness." Temmit admitted. "I had the fear that it must be well past mid-of-night."

His stomach growled and gurgled noisily. "You did a real good thing today, Renee." He said, ignoring his body. "I rounded up all the valuable that the ruffians had; I think that their collective value might just recoup you most of what you spent in buying this place. The bodies I put down the shaft in the kitchen, so they're all gone now. Damien is still out of it (or was when I came to let you in)." He stomach growled again. "I'm sorry...I'm having difficulty focussing...so much happened today. I did have a worrisome thought or two that we should cover in due time...like whether or not there were any members of Damien's gang not in residence before we visited, but that can wait." He trailed off for a moment, not being able to bring to mind any other officious duties left untended.

"Leslie's all right, then?" He asked at length, coming to his most important concerns, and confident in her answer, but trying to adhere to her protocols.